(MENAFN) Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s former ceremonial head of state and a lifelong supporter of the ruling dynasty, has passed away at the age of 97, according to state reports.

He served as president of the Supreme People’s Assembly, Pyongyang’s largely ceremonial legislature, from 1998 to 2019. Throughout his long career, Kim held various diplomatic positions under three leaders of the Kim family—founder Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong Il, and his grandson Kim Jong Un—despite having no familial ties to the dynasty.

Kim died of multiple organ failure on 3 November, with state media describing him as an “old-generation revolutionary who left extraordinary achievements in the development history of our party and country.” A state funeral was held in his honor.

Born during the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula to a family described as “anti-Japanese patriots,” Kim attended Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang and studied in Moscow before beginning his political career in the 1950s. He rose from a low-ranking party official to foreign minister, and eventually became chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly for nearly the entire reign of Kim Jong Il.

Although ultimate authority always resided with the ruling Kim family, Kim Yong Nam often represented North Korea on the international stage. In 2018, he led a delegation to South Korea during the Winter Olympics, meeting then-President Moon Jae-in. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong Un, was part of that delegation.

He also met former South Korean leaders Kim Dae-jung in 2000 and Roh Moo-hyun in 2007 at inter-Korean summits. South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young extended condolences, noting he had shared “meaningful conversations about peace in the Korean peninsula” with Kim Yong Nam.

Former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong Ho, now living in the South, remarked that Kim Yong Nam “never made his own opinions known... He had no close [allies] or enemies. He never showed any creativity. He never put out a new policy. He only repeated what the Kim family have said before.” Thae added, “Kim Yong Nam is the perfect role model of how to survive for a long time in North Korea,” noting his “clean” reputation allowed him to avoid internal criticism.

Unlike many other senior officials, Kim Yong Nam was never demoted or purged as leadership transitioned through three generations of the Kim family. He retired in April 2019. His longevity was exceptional, as numerous North Korean officials have been executed or sent to labor camps when seen as disloyal to the regime—for instance, Kim Jong Un had his uncle Chang Song Thaek executed in 2013 for “acts of treachery.”

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